Fortune Days of the Rising Sun
by spiritgununicorn
Summary: The year is 2013. The governmental stronghold now known as Akatsuki has taken over everything that many had once held so dear. A resistance force known as Kyuubi has been trying to counteract the corruption and damage that Akatsuki has generated.
1. Prologue

Title: Fortune Days of the Rising Sun

Pairing: Naruto x Sasuke. Various other pairings.

Rating: M

Summary: The year is 2013. The governmental stronghold now known as Akatsuki has taken over everything that many had once held so dear. A resistance force known as Kyuubi has been trying to counteract the corruption and damage that Akatsuki has generated. In the midst of the struggle, two boys become men; what will truly become of them?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fan fiction.

Warnings: Violence, grotesque imagery, rape, coarse language, eventual sex…I believe that's it.

Notes: I have not written a multi-chaptered action fan fiction in a long time. This isn't beta-ed for now, but when I get corrections, I shall upload it. Sorry if this concept has been overdone. Hope you all enjoy. R & R?

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><p><em>Prologue.<em>

It's been a long time since Konoha was nothing but tenement buildings. They used to glow during the scarlet sunrises, making the buildings shimmer with the shine of fresh blood. When I was much younger, I used to stay up all night just to watch that sunrise. It used to remind me that was I still alive, that I had survived another brutal day in this god forsaken town. That sunrise was the only thing I had in my life that could make me forget the blood, sweat, tears, and corpses that littered every which way. Horrible isn't it? A ten year old finding fresh corpses in the middle of the street, covered with bullet holes, and eyes losing the sheen of fresh life, as they gazed into the sky. Those poor souls were wishing that their families were either fine without them, or that they would soon be together again.

I hated the stench of them in the summertime. It was an overpowering odor, and every time I stepped outside it felt like their souls were leaving them and entering my own body. It was a rather creepy feeling that left me teetering on the edge and I always walked around looking over my shoulder. I felt the ghouls would come after me, but those were just fictional monsters in my head to combat the real ones that had taken precedence over my life.

I used to stare up at the gigantic imposing building that overlooked the entire town with such disdain that my face could have been permanently stuck that way. That blue-grey building was so pompous that I just wished I could chuck stones at it and break a few windows in the process. However, I knew that if I did that, I would be shot on the spot. No, I am not kidding, there are men covering every inch of that building with a rifle or some other type of assault gun and would not hesitate to shoot a child.

I would know; I lived my life with the flashbacks of watching each and every one of my classmates and teachers being decimated with those kinds of weapons. No matter how hard I tried, that memory played in my dreams, and even haunted me as I lay awake. I knew I could do nothing when I was five years, but I still lived with the guilt of not dying with them. No, I wasn't allowed to die. I was tossed around a public service, catering to men's whims and I had the scars to prove it.

I sucked and fucked like a whore until I was left to rot on the street. The soldiers of Akatsuki who did that to only a child…I still remember their disgusting faces. I couldn't wait until I killed every last one of them bastards for doing that to me. I wanted to shoot them repeatedly in various places, starting with their genitals, until they begged for me to get it over with. I remember the day before they killed my teachers and classmates, they killed my fucking family. I had run out that day too. My father and mother didn't even try to hide me, they just sent me out of the house, tears flowing down their faces as the shots were fired into their chests, heads, and backs.

I hated Akatsuki. I know that's an overstatement after knowing what they've done. They had fucked up everything in my life. They took everything away from me, leaving me cold, nearly dead, and covered in their semen. I wanted to burn the edifice they used as their headquarters, but I knew I couldn't do it alone. I was strong, but not that strong. I knew the limits of my power, and the only thing that gave me hope was the fact that I wasn't alone. I had Kyuubi. It was my lifeline; my sparkling light of hope. Well, more like a dimming light bulb in the middle of basement, but they still gave me hope.

They were amazing and brave people and I am glad that I got to know them. They were friends, and had eagerly accepted me as one of their own. They took me in when they found out that I was a great marksman, but who's really complaining? I was more than excited to join in their resistance squad and help the people of Konoha. Together, they not became just my hope, but the people's hope, and that's saying something. In a time where death ran rampant, they made people believe that shit could be turned into gold and life could overpower death, more or less.

I, Naruto Uzumaki, was proud of be a member of Kyuubi. I was ready to defend my town, people, and memories for the sake of my own life. I had nothing left to live for back then when I first started in Kyuubi. How wrong that train of thinking used to be. I found out soon after that it was much better to live protecting something than to just die for it. And now, as I lean in front of this grave, placing flowers over it...

I wish you believed the same thing.

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><p>Extra Notes: Hello readers, I come once again bringing a new fan fiction instead of just finishing the ones I have started. This one started to formulate in the midst of me sleeping, and when I tried to push it away…well, it kept nagging the crap out of me. Here is the prologue of this story. I really want to know how I did for the start and if you're excited to read any more.<p>

Also, somewhere along the line if I do continue this, I may or may not make a fan mix. I can't do a cover for it because I fail, but I wouldn't mind making a fan mix. That would be a fun and cool idea, wouldn't it? I'll let you guys dwell on that.

Extra Extra Notes: Corrected some of the grammar. Or at least tried to. ^^;

Bye bye, lovely readers.

xoxoxo


	2. Chapter One

Title: Fortune Days of the Rising Sun

Pairing: Naruto x Sasuke. Various other pairings.

Rating: M

Summary: The year is 2013. The governmental stronghold now known as Akatsuki has taken over everything that many had once held so dear. A resistance force known as Kyuubi has been trying to counteract the corruption and damage that Akatsuki has generated. In the midst of the struggle, two boys become men; what will truly become of them?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fan fiction.

Warnings: Some humor here and there, violence, grotesque imagery, rape, coarse language, eventual sex, character deaths…I believe that's it.

Notes: Hello there my lovely readers, I thank you for the words of encouragement, as well as the alert count of ya'll reading this. Now to the matter at hand, I would really love a beta for this story, so if anyone would like to come forth to check my grammar and possibly tell me what I am doing wrong, I'd appreciate it. Also, read the extra notes in case you get confused. Other than all of that: enjoy.

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><p><em>Chapter One<em>

"Well, well. What do we have here? A couple of street rats, clinging to every single scrap of food they can find." My ears per up as I can hear the bitterness in that tone of voice. I begin to slow my strides so I can catch up to them at the right moment in time. I hear the jingling of keys as the obvious male voice continues to humiliate the people before him. The so called street rats are nothing more than a bunch of kids who lost their homes and families due to assholes such as him. I come to a halt on the side of the bastard, my hands are fisted in my pockets, holding onto the pistol that I bring out just in time as he takes out his.

Mine is faster, and it is now touching his temple. He's standing there fearfully before the poor kids who are huddled in the alleyway. I don't look at them, because if I do, this fucker can turn around and think he has something against me. "Go. All of you." Three kids move around us and take off, out of the alleyway to somewhere else. I don't look, just tick off the safety and smirk.

"Don't think you'll get away with blowing off an officer's head you little fuck." My smirk turns into a grin. Did he really think he could scare me with that kind of attitude, and his status? He had another thing coming.

"An officer of Akatsuki. I could tell by the way you walk and the way you talk. I don't give a fat flying fuck if you are part of that organization. No…I do…only to bring you down." The trigger is close to being pulled and he spasms. "That's right Mr. Officer. You're in Kyuubi territory. And your time on the outskirts of your territory is up. Goodbye." I pull the trigger and a slew of red liquid flows out before him. Smoke rises from the open wound and I can clearly see over to the other side. His knees give out as the rest of his body falls forward. He lays there motionless and I can hear footsteps inching closer.

"I thought I told all of you to go. Why would you even come back here?" I turned my head from the now deceased officer to the same kids who fled the alleyway. They each ranged from around ten to at least five years old. I sighed and gave them a small smile. They rushed at me, two of them clinging to each leg, and the oldest pulling me down for a hug. "Ah! Wait a second here!" I couldn't help but laugh, and that's when I noticed they couldn't speak. They each had a scar on their necks, right where their voice boxes would be. They then pulled back from me, one of them holding a pouch of coins that they had nabbed from me.

I held out my hand for them to give it back, and the youngest held it clutched to her chest. "Give it back. I promise to give you some." They all looked skeptical, but the youngest gave the pouch back. I kept my word and gave them three silver pieces each. Their faces lit up and I couldn't help but smile. "Okay. Now all of you go on. Don't get into anymore trouble, and if any bad men try and get at any of you…kick them right in the shins, hard." They nodded and gave me another heart wrenching hug before taking off.

"Heh. Always with the soft spot for kids, Uzumaki." I whirled around and met my great partner and friend, Kiba Inuzuka. The brunette always reminded me of some feral creature. His eyes looked different than a normal human's and his teeth were sharp; he even had fangs. He had two red triangular looking scars under his eyes. He had gotten them from our first mission together when he had gotten captured. The bastard carved the marks onto his skin, and they never healed correctly. They made him look even more crazed, but his girlfriend seemed to like them.

"Yeah. But you know how it is, kids always getting into trouble around here. Being found by the wrong kind of people and all that jazz." I kicked at the corpse that laid before me. One last little thing before Kiba started walking past me with his huge white pooch, Akamaru. I couldn't help but follow the tag team.

"You always say something like that, but I know it's because they remind you of your past. You can cut the act. I know you too well." I pouted beside him, putting my pistol back in my pocket, along with my hands.

"Yeah, yeah. Horrible memories that won't go away. It doesn't matter right now. Where are we going? Back to the compound?" Kiba shook his head. "Taking Akamaru for a walk around the desolate area? Do you really think Akamaru really likes to look at these sights?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "Of course not." He looked around at the crumbling buildings and sniffed the air, making a face. The only scents in Konoha was decomposing dead bodies as well as the musky odor of the decaying buildings. I would not be surprised if I woke up smelling the air and catching a disease from it. "We're going to a brawl. Chouji got us a lead there. Supposedly there is one of the higher ups that likes himself some trained gladiators, at least that's how he put it. It's a good old fashion fight. Two dudes duking it out, and we gotta watch it to the end. We also gotta find out who is the higher up."

"You mean we don't have a face to match?" He shook his head at me. "That's some bullshit information Chouji got right there."

Kiba shrugged. "A lead's a lead. All we can do is take it. Besides, this gig is never easy. Being in Kyuubi is never easy. Unless you're backing out of it right now, and running with your tail between your legs?" He was goading me, and I knew it. It was something we always did with each other. Teasing's been a big part of our little brother shtick since we met.

"Ha. Do I look like you or your pooch? No, running's not in my blood, you mutt."

He laughed. "Whatever kit. Let's go already. I want to see what these so called modern gladiators can do. Not to mention our higher-up that we can take down."

We continued walking for about another ten minutes, stopping at a run down club entrance. The thing with all these operations was that they can be up on the rooftops and Akatsuki wouldn't give two shits about it. However, it was because the money from these things were also given to Akatsuki like if they were a landlord. Akatsuki as a whole was a dictatorship with the higher-ups running the place. Of course, there is one leader of them all and his name is Madara. No one knows what he really looks like, but he has an orange mask that covers it except for one eye. That eye of his is purely crimson like the color of blood. I was lucky to see that eye once in my life, while working as one of Akatsuki's whores.

"Yo. Naruto!" I snapped at attention and looked at Kiba. Akamaru was nudging my leg, while a bouncer held the door open for us.

I smiled and rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Ha. Sorry about that?" Kiba just pulled me along with him and we ended up going down a few flights of stairs. The second door opened before us after we met a burly, hairy, muscular man that nodded at us when he saw us. He muttered something under his breath, but when we tried to ask him about it, he just pushed us through the door. We tumbled inside, finding ourselves in an underground structure that reminded me of the colliseum that Shikamaru once told us about.

He said something about ancient peoples building it for plays as well as a battle arena. We were at the high stands of the place and it looked like we had to keep moving down the stairs before us to get anywhere near the ring. Kiba turned to me, giving me a thumbs up, and followed Akamaru, who had taken off before us. I had no choice other than to try to not get vertigo while going down the stairs to the ring. The place was huge! And the steps downward were so narrow! I could hear the guffaws of men as they watched up climb down as well as watch the dirty brawl that was taking place.

We slid into seats right above the ring. The ring was circular and covered in dirt. Around the ring was a wall that wrapped around it, and a door at the side. The door was to get the fighters in and out of the ring as necessary, but I figured it was to get one out alive and collect the other in a body bag to dump out in the back later. I turned my gaze from the two branded men that were beating the crap out of each other and looked around. It seemed like I was admiring the structure, but in reality I was looking for anyone who could look like a higher-up of Akatsuki. I had no such luck, most of the guys in the stands were old farts who were bidding their money on either of the fighters.

"This is the worst job ever, Kiba. This shit looks like it's gonna take forever," I hissed at him and he gave me a look.

"If you really think it's so bad, then you go off and quit. No one's stopping you. Besides, I'm sure the one we're looking for is a pretty boy who doesn't get his hands dirty. We just got to wait it out. I don't think he's here yet. We were pretty close." I sighed, leaning back and crossing my arms. Wait it out. Fuck this job. I hated waiting around, I was always an impatient man.

We stayed there for goodness knows how long. We watched fight after fight, and listened to old men hoot, holler, and screech at the combatants. I was starting to get extremely aggravated, especially since some old geezer knocked right into me as he was starting his tirade about the fighter who cost him his loot. I glared at Kiba. "You cannot be fucking serious. We have been here way too long and this dude hasn't even shown up! Let's go!" Kiba sighed and nodded. He was getting pretty fed up too, and Akamaru was ready to chew on someone for being kept waiting so long. We had push our way through the geezer in our row, but then the lights went out as soon as got on the steps. I tried to look at Kiba, "What now?"

Then the lights flashed again; burning much brighter than before. I thought I was going to go blind and fall down the staircase, but Akamaru was behind the two of us so we wouldn't start tumbling down. Our eyes went straight to the ring and standing down there in the middle, a man with cold crimson eyes and long black hair stood before us. He looked around the crowd and smirked before his opponent came before him. Kiba and I stood transfixed as they began to battle. We couldn't even hear the cries of the old men, I'm not even sure if they were yelling anymore, and I wouldn't take my eyes off of these two gladiators.

The one with the crimson eyes was something of a pretty boy. If not for the indentations near his eyes, I would have surely thought he was a regular teenager. Those indents were like his own personal brand because I saw no other markings on his body, unlike the others who fought. Every fighter in the arena had been shirtless, and these two were no exception. The pretty boy was not as muscularly built as the other, but he did have an elegance to his fighting style and was much more swift than his opponent. In two minutes, he already had made his rival bleed from his nose and mouth. His punches were swift and hard, from what I could tell. I was mesmerized. I felt like I could watch him fight forever if he willed it.

"Let's get closer." I could feel Kiba looking at me like I grew another head.

"What?"

"I said, let's get closer. I want to keep watching." Kiba didn't argue with me on this one, he just went with it. Akamaru led the way as we walked down, close to the ring. We were pressing up against the wall. My palm was against it and I could feel the electric current of anger, malice, and despair swirling with the touch. I kept my eyes locked on the pretty boy, until he was claimed the victor. He had killed his foe with a swift uppercut, to the nose, breaking it and sending it straight to his brain. The other man fell down in seconds flat right after the attack. A referee came out to hold the pretty boy's arm and raise it high.

"And the victor is Itachi!" The crowd went wild, and he looked at the faces all around. He didn't smile or grin, no, he smirked as if he knew no one could challenge him. He knew he was going to win, and if anyone bet against him they were stupid. He looked like such an arrogant prick. Then his gaze locked onto mine, and those crimson eyes flared. He reminded me of the time when I saw just one crimson eye lock with mine after feasting on the semen of what felt like a thousand men. I saw that eye right before I could tossed on the streets with barely enough life left in me. I grit my teeth.

"It's him. He's from Akatsuki. That's our higher-up."

Akamaru started barking and Kiba leaned even more onto the wall. "You really think that's him?"

"I don't think it's him. I know it's him. We can't do anything about him, at least not yet. We've got his name, that's good enough. He's dangerous as fuck, Kiba. Don't argue with me on this one. I've got a pretty good feeling that if we try anything, he'll kill us on the spot. Now is not the time."

Kiba nodded, catching my drift. We decided it was best to leave now, and give our information to the others. Truthfully, Kiba and I are horrible informants. We can never get either the right information, or we end up shooting everyone before we can collect data. I guess I could thank the whole wall being there from having Itachi try and fight us. I wasn't scared of him, but I could tell he was powerful. What he did in his match was only but a taste of what he could really do, that much I was certain. We went back out the way we came, out into the harsh dark night. The smell of the dead was palpable, and I loathed it completely.

x.x.x.

Neither Kiba nor I spoke about the matches we just saw. There was just a comfortable and thoughtful silence between us, and that was all that was necessary. We went quickly to the compound and the moment we entered, we were greeted by Hinata. Hinata Hyuuga is a dark haired maiden and Kiba's girlfriend, well she's more like his fiancée, but he won't marry her until all of this Akatsuki business is dealt with so they can really live together and have a happily family with Akamaru. Needless to say, I can't wait to be the best man at his wedding. I would love to see what Hinata's family would think of the whole thing. I already know about Neji, her cousin. He's practically like whatever about these things. Then again, he's like whatever about most things.

"Hello Kiba, Naruto. I suppose the two of you finished your mission?" Kiba gave her a grand old kiss before either of us could answer. I stood by awkwardly, wishing that I wasn't watching the two of them kiss in front of me. It's not like I wasn't happy for them or anything, I just felt like I was interrupting a cute and intimate moment. Hinata giggled as she pushed Kiba away, reminding him or my presence and I smiled a little. The two of them were really cute sometimes.

"Before Kiba rudely interrupted, we just got a bit of information. Nothing too heavy, and no kicking ass on our parts."

"Except for the officer's head you blew off before we got to the underground coliseum." I glared at him and he smiled back at me sweetly.

Hinata gasped and clutched at my hands. "You blew off some officer's head? Why would you do that Naruto?"

"He was going to kill some innocent kids, I thought it was best to help them." Hinata nodded, understanding why I did what I did. Kiba had probably told her a bit of my past, and why I was so protective of youngsters. A few years back, when I started out in Kyuubi, I would bring kids here to stay with us for a little while. The others thought it was a big risk, having little kids around, so we made up a shelter for them and still some would rather be out hustling around in the streets. You really can't save them all.

"So, because of your little protective streak, you decided to blow some officer's head without even thinking about it?" I looked to my right to see the ever pink haired and green-eyed Sakura leaning over one of the stair banisters. She rolled her eyes and came down to me, slapping me upside the head for my transgression. For once, her hit did not hurt. It was only a little tap, but when she's pissed, I have learned to steer clear of her hits. She hits harder than a fucking bullet piercing the skin and coming right through.

"Hey, I did think about it, somewhat. And he threatened me with the whole 'I'm an officer, fear me, raaah' thing, you know?" She didn't believe me and just hit me again. This time when she hit me, it actually hurt and I pouted. Sakura could be so cold sometimes. Not that I don't love the girl, she's like a sister to me, but she can be pretty mean.

"It's still inexcusable. What if he had other's with him? What if someone was covering his back? From what I understand Kiba had to go and locate you. He and Akamaru found you through your smell, and if they found you in a pool of blood…" She trailed off, her mid focusing on a different time and place. A time when her life was shattered because of Akatsuki's goons. I had to wrap my arms around her and pull her in close for a hug. She began to weep, but it died down after a little while. I motioned m head for Hinata and Kiba to get going. I would give the report myself and comfort Sakura.

When she stopped crying, I pulled her over and started walking to the central computer room. Chouji was sitting there next to Shino and talking. They looked up as soon as we had entered at greeted us. I sat on part of the desk and Chouji tried to scoot me off, but I wouldn't budge until I had given them my report. "Do you really have to put your ass there? I work hard on that desk, and if it breaks it's all your fault."

"Chouji, my ass won't break it. I promise. Now let me tell you guys what we saw at the matches. There was one of the higher-ups just like you said there would be. He was in the ring, fighting against one of the prisoners, the gladiators. He wasn't built too much or anything, but he was powerful. He killed the guy easily, and when it was all over we got his name."

"Stop swooning over this dude and give us his name." I glared at Shino. How dare he think I was swooning over some Akatsuki prick? Sure, he was a pretty boy-That's not the point damn you!

"His name's Itachi. He's also got the same kind of eyes as Madara. Might be related?"

"A higher up with the same as the superior? I wouldn't put it past Madara to think his bloodline should be part of the Akatsuki clique. So, we only know of the two of them. We don't even know their last names, just their firsts. We've got a lot more ground to cover, but I can't say that we have nothing. Good work, Uzumaki."

I grinned. "That's the first time I've ever heard you complement me, Shino!"

"Don't get too happy, you dolt." Sakura smacked me over the head, yet again. "It was just a name that you got. And you didn't describe him. What's he look like?"

"I told you about the crimson eyes. He's got long black hair, it was pulled into a ponytail. He's got two indentations right in between his eyes. Almost like his own personal brand, like they do for the guys that fight. He had a nice build, but he wasn't muscular in the least. He looked like he shouldn't be able to fight, more like a model, but the moment he was called into action…He just sprung up and started kicking ass."

"Hmph. Sounds like you've got a crush."

"Shino. Remind me why I don't bust a cap in your ass, right now?"

"I complemented you five seconds ago."

"Let's just keep it that way?" He said nothing and just sat beside Chouji. Meanwhile, our chubby friend had been messing with the computer, trying to locate something in his database or something. He kept tping in a bunch of random numbers, which I assumed were codes, and up popped Itachi's face! "That's him! That's Itachi." The four of us gazed at his record which was right underneath the picture and we read that he was pretty much a ruthless killer. He was once one of the most wanted criminals in Konoha, and then Akatsuki took hold of everything, making his reputation completely sacred. "He's one crazy bastard."

I couldn't read Shino's expression, as his clothing and glasses took up his face. I looked at Chouji who was looking hard at the record, thinking of what to make of it. Sakura however seemed to be more transfixed on Itachi's face. "Sakura?"

"He looks familiar. Like I have seen him before, but I don't know where. It's strange." She wrapped her arms around herself and kept pondering about it, but realized she couldn't find the answer. She shook her head and patted my arm. "At least you got us some information, that's all that matters."

For the rest of the night, no one spoke about the mission that Kiba and I had went through. Every night, the members of Kyuubi gather around for TV time and discuss other things instead of what we go through from day to day. We have a television hook up to our lounge room that Kiba, Shikamaru, and Rock Lee had to put together. Kiba and Lee were called incompetent by good old Neji and he figured they should have someone to help the two of them. He would rather not do the work, but Shikamaru was dragged to do it instead. He said things like "what a drag" or "how troublesome" but he got the job done.

There are a lot of us who live here in the compound, but we all still have a space to sit somewhere in the lounge room. Kiba and I park ourselves on the floor beside Sakura and Hinata who sit on their own chairs, while everyone else tries to cram themselves onto a rug or on the small couch we have. As long as we all get to see the TV we're all good. Most of the time, some of us end up crashing where we are because we're so exhausted, but spending time with everyone is worth it in the long run. We don't have to vocally state that we've all become great friends after taking over Kyuubi from the older folks before us, and it's okay. We all know we're going to protect each other as well as the entire city of Konoha from Akatsuki.

It's our way. It's our home.

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><p>Extra Notes: I was thinking of making this chapter longer, but I like where I left off. I've rewrote this chapter a couple of times and I hope you guys like this version. Okay, so in case you are wondering about the time the chapters are taking place, the prologue is way after the story. The epilogue will catch up and meet with the prologue, and the story shall be leading up to the prologue and epilogue. Hope you guys understand, unless if I am horrible at describing it. ^^;<p>

Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter. R & R?

xoxoxo


	3. Chapter Two

Title: Fortune Days of the Rising Sun

Pairing: Naruto x Sasuke. Various other pairings.

Rating: M

Summary: The year is 2013. The governmental stronghold now known as Akatsuki has taken over everything that many had once held so dear. A resistance force known as Kyuubi has been trying to counteract the corruption and damage that Akatsuki has generated. In the midst of the struggle, two boys become men; what will truly become of them?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fan fiction.

Warnings: Some humor here and there, violence, grotesque imagery, rape, coarse language, eventual sex, character deaths…I believe that's it.

Notes: Hello there my lovely readers, I thank you for the words of encouragement, as well as the alert count of ya'll reading this. Now to the matter at hand, I would really love a beta for this story, so if anyone would like to come forth to check my grammar and possibly tell me what I am doing wrong, I'd appreciate it. Also, read the extra notes in case you get confused. Other than all of that: enjoy.

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><p><em>Chapter Two<em>

Days turned into weeks as we didn't have any other leads after the Itachi one. I spent most of the days shut inside the compound and bugging the hell out of Chouji and Shino. They threw me out of the computer room a couple of times, and I would meet Sakura, followed by a lovely resounding slap. It was never a good thing to leave me inside the place for a prolonged amount of time. I did do some things other than bug people; like some training for instance. I had to keep on working on my aim and I even did some weights and things like that. So, I wasn't just sitting on my ass.

Unlike Shikamaru. Then again, he's always sitting on his ass because he's such a intelligent bastard and can get away with it. That is until Ino finally emerges and yells at him. I don't know why he actually listens to her, but he does. He also goes out for smokes with Chouji and they made me swear not to tell Ino. The two of them fear her wrath more than any of the Akatsuki's goons. But Ino can be just as scary as Sakura when she's pissed, so I don't blame them.

Anyway, I had been bored out of my mind for the past couple of weeks, so I decided why not head out to Old Man Jiraiya's pub? I hadn't seen him in a long time and it was always a good thing to see him. He and his wife, Tsunade were like grandparents to me. They were the ones who sheltered me after they found me on the streets the night that Akatsuki left me for dead. If I didn't have them, I don't know what I would have done. I remember when I finally woke up from my mini-coma, I tried to escape all sore and shit. Tsunade grabbed me before I could even jump out of the window of their apartment complex and threw me back onto the bed with inhuman strength.

"_Stay in the bed you little bastard. Unless you feel like dying tonight. I don't suggest you try that shit again." She had crossed her arms over those gargantuan breasts she had. I thought they were some kid of floatation device way back then. I was a snotty little brat and tried to do it again, and she just threw me harshly onto the bed. She was going to have none of it. She didn't just fix me up to have me try and kill myself. We ended up arguing back and forth until Jiraiya came back home, looking between the two of us._

"_Haha, I see the two of you are getting along." We both glared at him. "Or not. Look, boy you've had a lot of damage done to your system. I suggest you get as much rest as possible and try not to piss her off too much." He pointed at Tsunade who was still ticked off, but started to exit the room after he had said his little bit. She closed the door behind her loudly and made the wall crack beside it. _

I remember Jiraiya sighing and mumbling something about how he got married and how she hadn't killed him yet. I didn't pay much attention after that.

Tsunade and Jiraiya sent me down the complex to go and live with two of their friends. They kept saying they weren't suitable enough caretakers of some suicidal kid (or that's what Tsunade said) and sent me to live with Iruka and Kakashi. Those two were just as nuts as Tsunade and Jiraiya. Except that Iruka was always coddling me like the son he could never have and Kakashi was just as perverse in the head as Jiraiya. Either way, growing up with the four of them as a secondary family was pretty neat.

It still hurts my heart that Iruka and Kakashi aren't with us now. I'm sure wherever they are, they are still smiling down on me, just as they always had. The two of them were killed right before I joined the Akatsuki. It was because of their murder that I had decided to join. I didn't know that my "family" was even a part of it. But the moment I found out, I checked myself in and never thought twice about it.

Getting to Jiraiya's pub was never difficult, and it was even better when I was joined with my fellow comrades. Sakura, Rock Lee, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, and Shikamaru had joined me. The other's were staying in the compound doing a few other things. I wasn't so sure if they were going to join us later or not. The moment we got inside, I could already feel the smile tugging at the sides of my mouth before it fully came out. Jiraiya was tending to a few of his patrons and Tsunade was sitting at a table by her lonesome. Sakura and I made a beeline for her while everyone else went to sit down at a bigger table.

"Well, well if it isn't granny cakes!" I laughed as she gave me the finger, but then tried to get a hug out of her. She wouldn't let me for a little bit until I kept struggling for one.

"Always a brat. Still haven't grown a fucking bit. I haven't seen you in a while. Jiraiya's even been asking for you." She ruffled my hair and I tried to get away from her. She moved over to Sakura giving her protégé a hug.

"No fair! You give her a hug faster than you did for me. And I thought Jiraiya would always ask for me. He's like my grandpa and you're my grandma. Us growing boys need a figure ya know." Tsunade rolled her eyes and gave me a tap on the head. She just went back to talking to Sakura and I took it as a sign to go over to the man I've been wanting to see.

"Old man!" I screamed to him before I even got to the stools. He looked up and gave me a smile and a thumbs up. The bar wasn't always super crowded or noisy so everyone had heard me yell to him. It wasn't a big thing when I came around to do that, so everyone just paid mind to their own business.

The moment I sat down on the stool, I was enveloped into a crushing hug. "Naruto! It's good to see ya! Following my footsteps and getting a few hotties here and there, huh?" See what I mean about him being a pervert? Sometimes in his spare time he writes and sells his own dirty books. People love them, but of course he sells them on the down low so that Akatsuki won't find out. It seems they like to regulate the mass production of anything and everything. But Jiraiya always gets the better of them and does really good.

He even has codes for Kyuubi supporters so they can check up on things. It really does help people. It's a good feeling, even though they're just a bunch of porn books.

"Haha, I'm not like you. I don't have a need for any of that. Besides, all I care about is doing my work, and you know what that's like."

He set up a whiskey sour for me replying, "That I do. I suppose you all came to find some things out or is this an actual social visit?"

"Depends if you got something in the can or not. I did just want to come visit but if you insist-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence as the bar became quiet real quick. As I said, the place wasn't normally noisy and you can practically hear everything that was going on. However, the entire place became silent and Jiraiya just stared straight ahead. I looked at him with a question hanging off of my tongue, but I didn't ask. There was something to this silence. Slowly, I turned around to see four men in coats standing in the doorway.

Each were official Akatsuki soldiers. They do come every once in a while to check out Jiraiya's bar, as well as look at how the customers are faring with them in charge. They like to see the soot covered patrons trying to drink away the woes they place upon everyone. It's pathetic as can be. The Akatsuki's men come inside swiftly and seat themselves at a table, shouting out drinks that the expert bartender has to make quickly or else things would be rough.

Knowing my way around the bar, I jump on over to help him so everything can be done quicker. Living with Jiraiya, Tsunade, Iruka, and Kakashi had it's perks. I learned a few valuable lessons from each of them. From Jiraiya, my self esteem rose immensely as well as the lessons on how to make drinks and what was necessary as garnishes for each. Tsunade hated drinks that were not garnished, and that lesson was incredibly beneficial. If I thought she was a crazed woman the day she wouldn't let me kill myself, placing the drink wrongly in front of her would make her mouth run in a more malicious manner than a fist to the face.

She had taught me a few things about combat along with Kakashi as well. They were more like marital arts teachers than anything else, and I loved it. They always knew how to get my blood pumping through beating me down and bringing me back up. Iruka taught me other things like reading and writing. He said if I didn't know the basics of things how the hell was I going to get through life. Even the most stupid of pawns had to figure out signs and things like that. They were all great teachers to me. And I helped them out in any way I could.

Like right now, with the stupid Akatsuki goons stinking up the place. Tsunade stood up and came to the bar, picking up the drinks. She nodded slightly to the two of us, and we had to not give anything away. We were just hoping she wasn't going to try anything to get herself killed. I looked over to Sakura and the others. They tried to be as nonchalant as possible, but the entire crowd in the pub were staring at these guys. The whole place was still silent. One of the old man's hands was beneath the bar, searching for something. If you think my guns were pretty nice, I have nothing compared to what Jiraiya has stashed.

He had a few automatics, some were in the back just in case if anyone really needed them. And by anyone, I meant those in Kyuubi. Did I mention he was in on the whole thing too? Yeah, he was along with Kakashi and Iruka. Apparently, Jiraiya had taught Kakashi's teacher, but I never got to ask him who his teacher was. He said I looked a lot like him, whatever that meant.

Tsunade set the drinks down in front of the goons who were ogling her buxom front side. There was one that was beside her and he was ogling her backside as well. Now, Jiraiya is a pervert, but the moment anyone touches his woman that is not him, he completely loses it. And that s exactly what happened. The Akatsuki goon looking at Tsunade's backside reached out and touched his woman. Jiraiya wasted not time and got out his gun.

"You didn't just do what I think you did; did you?" I turned to look beside me, but somehow Jiraiya had already flew in front of his wife, and the gun was right at the guy's head. So much for shooting from a distance.

I hopped over the bar, cocking my pistol into the head of the goon that was putting his onto Jiraiya's temple. "Don't even think about it fucker. I'll blast your head off before you can even try and blast off his." He froze, making me grin at Jiraiya.

And then, the door to the bar opened once again. No one made any motions to go and check what it was, but the goon in front of me lifted his hands in surrender. I wasn't about to move, but Tsunade and Sakura started to pull me away from him. I was about to ask them what the hell was their problem, but I looked over to the doorway and saw a newcomer. He was hooded, and the only thing I could see was those piercing crimson eyes, the same as Itachi's and Madara's. Those disgusting crimson eyes that I loathed and wanted to rip out from every single one of them…well just Madara, but I still hated those eyes.

"Causing trouble again I see." The new male's voice wasn't as harsh or deep as I had expected it to be. It was low, cold, and devoid of any real emotion. I glared at him as he made his way to the soldiers. He simply smiled at me and motioned for everyone to lower their weapons. "I assure you. There will not be any trouble here." He looked at the goon that was next to Jiraiya, the same one that I was about to blast away. "Right? Takihito?"

Takehito didn't even have any time to answer before Sai's fist made contact with his nose in an uppercut. I could hear the crack of his nose hitting upward into his brain. It reminded me of how Itachi had killed his opponent a few weeks ago. I saw blood seep from the man's mouth and the rest of the soldiers just straightened up, saluting their senior officer.

"The rest of you, get him out of my sight and return to base. You have been called for a mission and here I find all of you lollygagging. Get to work, or else you will face the same fate as poor Takehito. And I am much more generous than our superiors. Now…OUT!" He roared at them and they scrambled to pick up Takehito's body. Two men carried him out, one had him by his legs and the other by his arms. They ran out of the bar, leaving an even louder silence than their arrival, especially since the door slammed shut.

"Sai…" Tsunade clapped a hand on the male's shoulder. I wondered if it hurt him, like her grip always did me. But he still held no emotion, not for anything. And that smile he had given me felt so completely fake it was scary. "Thank you for that. Come, Jiraiya will give you something in compensation." I blinked. Had she gone senile? That man was with Akatsuki! He was a fucking general for goodness sake! She was talking to him like he was an old friend and not someone who was with the enemy. When he left, I was going to give her an earful.

"Calm down, Naruto. Sai is not like all of those Akatsuki fools. I'll explain everything to you soon, but you really have to calm down. Come to the table, now." Sakura held me in her grip and wouldn't let me go. I'm strong, but Tsunade has taught Sakura and given her the ability to have inhuman strength. In essence, Sakura is a hell of a lot stronger than I am.

I was put in a chair before I could even try and argue with her. Shikamaru and the others were putting away their firearms, immediately easing into being regular citizens. I was still on edge trying to figure out who this Sai guy was and why everyone but me seemed to know who he was. I looked over at Kiba and Rock Lee, motioning to Sai and they shook their heads. They seemed to know nothing as always. Rock Lee was another one who wasn't an informant. He was a master of kung-fu, and tended to roll around with Tenten and Neji. The three of them together was a big movie waiting to happen.

"He is a general of Akatsuki, but you can say he's sort of an in-between. He's passive when it comes to Kyuubi. His orders are never one of assassination or anything like that. He's more like a recruiter and a teacher. Sai's like one of those guys you get sent to boot-camp and gotta take shit from. He knows about us, all of us, but he can't say a damn thing anyway."

I gave a look to Shikamaru. Of course this smartass would know everything. "Why not? Why can't he say anything about us?"

"He'd go boom. He's got some kind of bug in him that if manages to say anything that'll give us away to anyone he'd die. He's the only ally we got in that little fortress. Naruto-" He leaned in close to me. "Don't go over there to say anything stupid to him. The last thing we need is our true informant to go boom because you wanted to see if he was really on our side or not." He leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes, seemingly tired of talking like it was the most troubling thing he ever had to do.

I was still intrigued by this dude Sai. He was our true informant in Akatsuki, but why? I really wanted to know, but would that kind of information get him to explode? I scrunched up my nose at having to imagine Jiraiya's pub being covered in some guy's blood and intestines. He would make me clean up the entire place and make sure I didn't track blood anywhere in the midst of my cleaning. Jiraiya might think of me as the grandson he never had, but that would make him thirty times harder on me with the whole cleaning shtick.

Hinata fiddled with her hands, wondering if she should speak up. Eventually she finished her little inner battle and spoke up, "He's our informant, but he can't give just any information away. That's why we can't find out about the other higher ups. If he gives any names he'll also explode. He's got a two-time device in him. I think Tsunade may have implanted it or tested it. I'm not too sure…"

Sakura nodded. "That she did. Tested it, I mean. It was odd, because she was going to take it out to replace the one they had. But instead, she just tinkered with it. You can't take those kinds of things out easily. He could have died on the operating table. But Tsunade is a genius. She was able to mess with it and now…you can see what's going on."

I flipped my chair, leaning on what the back would be. My legs were on either side of the chair and my arms were on the top of the chair. "So…things are starting to get pretty heavy. We're lucky that he was here, huh? Think any of us would have died?"

"Jiraiya would have been gone for sure. Despite you going to shoot that guy in the head, the bullet would have pierced right through and into Jiraiya. It would have been a double murder and you wouldn't have liked that." I glared at Shikamaru. He was yawning now and rubbing the back of his head. "This kind of talk is so troublesome. You guys can't think of anything else except revenge, death, plots, and what have you. Our kind of work isn't easy, that we all know. But talking about it isn't going to make it any easier either."

At this point he took out one of his smokes. It was a present from one of the old guys in Kyuubi. He had passed on too, on the same mission as Kakashi and Iruka. Technically a lot of our "teachers" were either dead or in a distant land, and we weren't about to go looking for them. They had to go away in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. We even forced them to leave, and told them that we would take care of everything. We had to forge a new base. It was really tiring, all of that work we did, but it was worth it.

I laid my forehead on my arms, and closed my eyes for a minute. "You're right, Shikamaru. But if we don't talk about it, how are we gonna know anything?" I finally looked up at him, my eyes hardening. "We have to fight for everyone else. The general population isn't going to fight for themselves, so it's up to us. Don't you want to fight? For Asuma? Kurenai? That baby?"

I knew I struck a nerve when I talked about Kurenai's kid. She and Asuma were a great asset to Kyuubi, but once Asuma died, Kurenai almost forgot her reason to live. Shikamaru had to go over and talk her out of trying to follow her lover. She had a child growing inside of her. A child that Asuma truly loved, and couldn't wait to be born. Because of the baby, Kurenai had to be sent out of Kyuubi and to a distant land. Her reason for living was to take care of that child. And once it was of a certain age, she said she would come back. And by then, we would have already dealt with Akatsuki. It was Shikamaru's solemn promise to her and to the child.

"You're right. That's why we're the ones doing this dirty job. As long as none of us do anything stupid, and play our cards right, Akatsuki will be taken down." Shikamaru lit a cigarette, letting it dangle in between his lips and said nothing else for the rest of the time we were there. He was lost in thought about anything and everything.

Unfortunately, I never got around to talking to Sai at the bar. Another Akatsuki member entered the area, stalking over to the bar and sitting beside Sai. My gaze drifted to the guy as he was speaking curtly to our informant. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. There was something strikingly familiar about this guy, even though I had no recollection of him ever being in my life.

He was about five-foot-eleven, medium build, jet black hair that stuck up in the back…sort of resembled a duck's ass and I had to bite my lip not to laugh. Kiba kicked me under the chair, making me turn to him. "Oww. What the hell, man?"

"What is it with you and staring at people these days? You keep losing your focus and your eyes keep wandering. Need to get them fixed or something?" I gave him the finger and turned my attention back to the guy. I realized the entire time I couldn't see his face at all. As of all of the light was turned off and permanently putting his face in a shadow, but then again he was keeping his head turned away from anyone who wasn't Sai. When he was done talking to the officer, he left just as quickly as he had arrived. I'm guessing he could feel that someone was staring at him, and turned his face to look around, and set his gaze on me.

His eyes were as dark as his hair, and incredibly angry. He looked like he didn't give a damn about anyone or anything but himself. It was such a contrast to the lightness of his face however. He was pale, really pale, the kid of pale that reminds you of snow, but there hasn't been much of that Konoha for _years_. It was like the pure brilliance of the snow would only bring out the darkness in full that hangs over the people of the city, because of Akatsuki. It was chilling; his gaze that is. It was like he was looking right through me, and then vanished through the doorway.

Kiba kicked me again, this time in the shin. Before it was just at the bottom of my foot, but this time I had to retaliate. I just didn't expect my foot to make contact with his crotch, since his legs were open. He howled in pain and hit the table, cursing at me because I gave him so much pain. I apparently kicked him harder than he did me, and I could only smile sheepishly.

"Knock it off over there!" Tsunade's voice sliced through the bar and went straight to our table. I was ready for her to throw something at me, but luckily she wasn't at the bar, but beside another table where she was about to play craps. She was always such a gambler. I like to think that gambling is her first love and Jiraiya her second. Especially since when I was a kid, she would run off to the slots to play with the money that they would make and then after a long night of losing would she crawl to bed with her husband. Lovely memories I had.

Well, the ones that I had built with them. The ones of my own family still plague me and I miss them dearly. Just thinking about them…the last looks they gave me as they told me to run, get out of the house, away from them as the shots fired…My hands balled into fists and I started shaking. I didn't really notice it, but Sakura had put her hands over my own and nodded. She knew what I was thinking about, being transported to the past, when I had to live in the here and now. Those of us in Kyuubi were heroes. We couldn't show any inkling for being weak, and right now, I had to give up those horrid memories in order to progress.

I had to give them up. But, that doesn't mean that I actually did give them up.

* * *

><p>x.x.x.<p>

A few hours later, my pals and I ended up closing the bar with Jiraiya and Tsunade. The two of them didn't let us leave after the rest of the clientele had because they knew us. We actually tried to scramble before they could keep us, but that plan didn't work. Now, we were all outside of the closed bar, ready to part ways.

Jiraiya wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. "Be careful, kid. I know you don't try to fuck up at times, but things are going to get difficult. I can feel it." I looked up at his questioningly. "Sai sad things are going down with the higher ups. He doesn't know what is going on exactly, but there aren't a lot of people whose bodies are just ending up in alleys about Konoha. It seems they are taking people but for what I don't know. Just be on your guard, okay kid?" All I could do was nod as he made his way over to his wife and then left.

I put my hands in my pockets, trying to think about what he meant as we walked back to the compound. I was silent for too long and the others stopped to question me. "Eh…sorry guys. I just had some stuff on my mind."

"That's a change."

"Ah…Sakura don't be so mean!" They all laughed as we continued on walking, but at some point the landscape had changed, not visibly at least, there was still the stench of dead bodies in the air as well as gas. However, it had already become dark, as the night fully rolled in. The problem was the sound. There was no sound. Despite Konoha being controlled all of the time and no one wanting to escape their homes, Konoha was still a city. It felt like a dead city, but it was still a city nonetheless. And silence was never part of a city. "Guys..?"

"Something's off. This district should be teeming with people who had left the bar." Shikamaru took a drag of his cigarette, looking around to see if he could see if anyone was setting us up for something. "Not a th-"

Gunfire pierced through the night like a katana followed by some shouts. Kiba and I glanced at each other before turning and running in the exact same direction that we just came through. Everyone else had followed our swift running as we ran past Jiraiya's pub. A few more shots were fired, getting louder to my ears as we started getting closer to the gunfight. Kiba and I stopped short, catching a breath as we found Jiraiya and Tsunade hiding behind a few trash bins, their firearms clutched in their hands.

"Old man! Grandma!" I shouted to them as Tsunade glared at me and Jiraiya motioned for the rest of us to move. I did as he was instructing, pulling everyone to a convenient alleyway, and leaned against the wall. "Shit, some of those stupid ass goons must have tracked those two and started some bull." A bullet grazed the wall I was leaning on, making me move farther back and pushing everyone else further behind me.

"Damn it, Naruto!" Kiba was about to push his way past me and out of the alley, but I pulled him back. And another bullet hit the wall.

"Fucking hell, Kiba! Trying to get yourself killed?" I pushed him down to the floor and Hinata went to her boyfriend to check on him. He was just a bit dazed from me doing that and so I stuck my head out a bit to see what was going on. It looked like Jiraiya and Tsunade now had the upper hand as they were still behind the trash bins and firing much more rounds than the goons.

"We can't just stay here doing nothing. We've gotta help out as well. Man, this is such a drag." I ducked out of the way in time for another bullet to ricochet and hit the wall again to shoot a loot at Shikamaru. Leave it to him to be a lazy ass in the middle of a gunfight!

"Well smartass, what do you think we should do?"

Shikamaru looked down at Kiba and then to me. "Crawl. It's the only way we can get near anyone. We've just gotta be fast and efficient. You, me, and Kiba will go over to Jiraiya and Tsunade. The rest of you stay here. Lee can stay behind with the girls until I give him the signal to try and get to the goons. You girls can come to us after we send for Lee. I'm sure Tsunade and Jiraiya have already been hit."

"Hit? They look perfectly fine!"

"But for how long? Look, we just need to get over there and fast. Come on!" We wasted no time after the next bullet had been fired that we hit the floor and started to move our asses. We got to Jiraiya and Tsunade in a few seconds, taking out our own firearms and started to shoot. I was able to decipher that it was three goons who were shooting at Tsunade and Jiraiya and they had already taken out one of them.

"Hanging in there old man? Grandma Tsunade? Are you okay?" The old bastard had gotten shot in the arm, but Tsunade was surprisingly fine. I thought she might have gotten shot, but she was just cradling her husband's injury.

"We'll be fine, brat. You guys take care of it now. By the way, where are the others?" Shikamaru and Kiba fired their last rounds, and the motioned for the others. Luckily, they were way ahead of them and managed to sneak over to the goons and knock them out. Sakura, Lee, and Hinata had managed to incapacitate them and look through their pockets for any belongings.

"Ha, seems like we don't have much to do now." I inclined my head to the trio, checking the guys' pockets. "Things have already been taken care of." I helped Tsunade gets Jiraiya off of the ground, putting pressure on his wound so that it wouldn't bleed anymore. Unfortunately, I just got all of his blood all over my hand and had to wipe it on my jacket. "This is lovely."

"Imagine what I had to deal with when I first brought you home." Jiraiya chuckled, ruffling my hair with his good arm and started walking away with his wife again. "Thanks a million, kids. Good thing we can depend on the future, huh?" Tsunade merely shook her head, leading him away and leaving the rest of us a bit confused as to what he could have meant by that.

"Hey, I think I've found something that is useful!" Lee held up an ID card from one of the goons, finding out that this guys was actually a soldier. The ID card could help us out in the long run if we dared to use it. Kiba and I clapped Lee on the back giving the card to Shikamaru for safekeeping. The girls found some ammunition and weaponry from the other two as well as some documents they were supposed to transport. Sakura and Hinata wouldn't let the rest of us see the documents for whatever reason and said they needed to check it with Chouji and Shino first. After all, they could be forged.

I didn't like the way they were looking at me when they made that claim. It was almost like they were hiding something from the rest of us. I'd find out eventually what they were up to with those documents. Chouji and Shino would be able to look through their database and among other things. So the need to figure out what they were hiding wasn't too great.

"Okay, it's time to really go back home. Hopefully nothing else will start coming after us or anyone else on our way back. Ugh…we've got to do a whole trip all over again."

Kiba slapped my back. "After a whole shootout, you'd be the only one to complain about us walking back. And here I thought being lazy was Shikamaru's department." Said man gave us a look before lighting another of his cigarettes. Apparently, in the middle of the gunfight, his last one got shot off of his mouth, and now he had to make up for it with another one. The others just laughed with us as we walked all the way back to the compound.

I still had some of Jiraiya's blood on me, and it even stained my clothing. I ran up to take a shower while everyone else had gone off to do whatever. "Ah…this feels good." I lathered up my body underneath the warm water, soaking myself up. It felt good to have a relaxing shower after all the shit that happened today. I didn't expect there to be so much excitement and whatnot. I shampooed my hair thinking about Sai, Itachi, the soldiers, and that mysterious guy from Akatsuki that captured my eyes at the bar. He looked so pissed off, I wondered if he always looked like he had a pole up his ass or what.

"Best not think on it. Odds are I won't even have to deal with him. He might just croak or something, or try and leave Akatsuki. Hm…I've never heard of anyone trying to leave." My eyes went wide as I thought about that. No one has ever tried to leave Akatsuki; what would happen if they did? I finished up my shower, wrapping a towel around my waist and going to my room to find out I had a visitor. "Well, this is different. I didn't expect to see you in here."

I could see the tint of a blush on Sakura's face as she got up and turned away from me. "I didn't expect that you would be underdressed still. I thought you finished up."

I grinned at her turned back. "Right. I thought you just wanted to see if you could snatch a peek. It's okay, I know I'm sexy." I laughed as she shot me a glare and then turned around again, huffing. "What is it that you really want then? I know you're not here to ask me about anything, so what is it?"

"I'd rather you get dressed first."

I moved about behind her, putting on some sweatpants but I still had no shirt on. I wasn't about to start sleeping with one on for her sake either. She would just have to deal with the chest. "I'm decent. You can look now." She turned around narrowing her eyes, but deemed my attire sufficient anyway. She clamored back onto my bed swinging her feet up and down like she was on a swing. "Sakura?"

"I remember where I've seen him before."

Now I was confused. I sat beside her on the bed, trying to get her to stop pushing her legs out before she fell, but she wouldn't let me. "Who are you talking about?"

"Itachi. I'm amazed you don't remember, then again you don't remember anything before the class and your parents being killed do you, Naruto? You don't remember when they were first taking over, and we had 'presentations' at the school." She was right, I couldn't remember anything else before the day my world got turned upside down. The day my parents were murdered before my eyes and I ran to school, only to get caught, my teachers and classmates lined up in a row and shot at. The blood flowing out of their bodies like a cannon and pooling at the floor except for me and a couple of other boys. We ended up being pressed down and entered in the most disgusting way possible.

I shuddered thinking about it, my rage starting to boil, but then she grabbed my hand again. She brought me back out of the past, bringing me straight to the future. What would I do without my best friend, Sakura? "A few days before the killings. He was the one that came for a presentation. He was so young, we didn't think he was really in Akatsuki, but then he came with someone older, much more experienced. I think he was family. Do you think-Madara?"

"Could have been his dad. I don't remember those red eyes though. Not until I was in that stronghold myself."

"You've blocked these things out, Naruto. The only thing you can remember-"

"I know! I just-I don't want to go back to that again, okay? Can we just-tomorrow. Let's talk about this some more tomorrow. I need to rest up, okay? My head's starting to hurt. I'm going to head to bed and sleep it off. Good night, Sakura."

She stiffened, still sitting on the bed. She didn't move until I did, when I started to get under the covers, pulling them over me. She made her way to the door, turning off my light and starting to walk out. "Night, Naruto. I'm sorry…" She walked out the door, closing it before I could say anything in apology. I didn't sleep well that night, and every time I closed my eyes, I was entranced by two sets of eyes: one crimson and the other like jet black ink.

* * *

><p>Extra Notes: A whole new chapter, yay! Sorry, updates are rather slow and sporadic. I'm back in school and things are getting hectic. I won't abandon my fics though! Um...let's see here, sorry for any mistakes I may have in this. I'm still trying to catch them, but you know...I sometimes do not notice things. It's much longer than the other chapters. I've tried to make them much longer now so that way, there will be a lot of information to grip you all.<p>

I would still love a beat if anyone would be interested, just pm me and I would love to work it out with you. I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as possible. I promise.

Any questions you have, just ask.

Thank you all for reading. xoxo


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